Centennial celebrations for one of the jewels of Colorado's many natural wonders will highlight the work of a Texan.

That might be tough for some Colorado partisans to swallow -- but, wait, it's not as bad as some might fear.

"To be honest with you, I'm embarrassed that I live in Texas," said Carol Welker, the graphic designer whose logo was chosen from nearly 100 submitted for use by Rocky Mountain National Park in promoting its 100th birthday in 2015.

Why embarrassed? Let her count the reasons.

"George Bush, Rick Perry..." Welker never got to the Dallas Cowboys.

"I could go on," she said. "You know, way too conservative for me. But I don't hang out with those people."

Welker, a 47 year-old Oklahoma native now living in Dallas, actually has Colorado bloodlines. Her mother lives in Estes Park. Her father grew up along the northern Front Range. And her family often summered in an area known as Cedar Park near Drake, on a tiny community on U.S. 34 in Larimer County along the Big Thompson River.

"We were up there for the Big Thompson Flood," said Welker, recalling the 1976 disaster during Colorado's centennial year, which killed 143 people. "We were trapped up there for three or four days. Some guy who was up there had to give us a ride in the back of his pickup truck down the backside of the mountain.

"That area is like a home away from home for me, so I probably had a little bit of an advantage, as far as knowing the area."

Iconography unique to the park is ingrained in Welker's memory. Several elements in her winning design, the bighorn sheep, pine cones and columbine -- the state flower -- were drawn from recollections of her childhood summers.

In fact, Welker, spent this past summer living in Estes Park, on the national park's eastern boundary. So, she said, "I could step right out the back door to grab a pine cone to see what it really looked like, when I drew it."

Welker said she was challenged in striving to represent the greatly varied climates and vegetation to be found in a park which ranges more than 6,000 feet in elevation.

"But I did my best, because it was a big deal, and I wanted to make it really impactful and attractive to most all age groups if possible," she said. "But I also wanted to give the impression that there's something, not sacred, but ...special. It's a special place."

Welker's winning logo was unveiled Tuesday, just three days following the 98th birthday of the park, which was Saturday.

The park's centennial year is 2015. But celebration of the anniversary will begin Sept. 4, 2014, in order to accommodate the greatest variety of events possible. Observations of the centennial will continue through Sept. 4, 2015, the 100th anniversary of the park's dedication.

The winning logo will be used for educational, marketing and promotional activities approved by the Rocky Mountain Nature Association and Rocky Mountain National Park.

Welker, whose work can be explored further at cwelker.com, was paid $3,000 for having submitted the winning design.

She's not going to spend it on a cowboy hat. She doesn't wear them, she said.